Safety device to prevent automobile drivers from falling asleep



INVENTOR James L. Kane KANE DRIVERS FROM FALLING ASLEEP Filed July 23, 1956 SAFETY DEVICE TO PREVENT AUTOMOBILE April 16, 1957 United States Patent SAFETY DEVICE TO PREVENT AUTOMOBILE DRIVERS FROM FALLING ASLEEP James L. Kane, Detroit, Mich. Application July 23, 1956, Serial No. 599,654

Claims. (Cl. 340279) This invention relates to automobile safey devices.

It 13 an object of the present invention to provide a safety device for automobiles which will prevent the motorist from falling asleep, while driving, to thereby eliminate accidents.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a safety device of the above type which includes a hand switch which must be pressed at certain intervals in order to prevent a buzzer from sounding and upon failure to press the hand switch the buzzer will sound to awaken the motorist, the hand switch being operable from the dashboard, or from the steering wheel, and alternately may take the form of a cigarette holder type of device which can be inserted between the teeth.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a safety device for automobiles which will prevent the motorists from falling asleep bearing the above objects in mind which is of simple construction, has a minimum number of parts, is inexpensive to manufacture, has an efficiency in use.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view shown partly in section of a preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in operative use;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof on an enlarged scale looking along the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view looking from the left of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a circuit diagram of the invention.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, represents the bottom wall of the dashboard 11 while 12 represents the conventional steering post having the steering wheel 13, substantially as illustrated. 3

In the practice of my invention, a closed rectangular casing indicated generally at 14 is mounted on the bottom wall 10 inwardly of the dashboard 11 by means of the lugs 15 and nut and bolt means 16. i

As shown in Fig. 3, a cylinder 17 is mounted within one end of the casing 14 and contains a piston plate 18 adapted to move therewithin, the piston plate 18 having the opening 19. The piston plate 18 is secured to the lower end of the piston rod 20 by means of the nuts 21 and 22, the lower end of the piston rod being externally threaded. A weight 23 is suitably mounted on the piston rod 20 adjacent the piston plate 18 with the upper end thereof in freely spaced relationship from the top of the cylinder, the weight 23 serving to retain the plate in the lower position at the bottom of the cylinder. A retarding fluid 24 fills the cylinder and controls the descent of the piston plate 18 in cooperation with the opening 19 therein, as will be obvious. The piston rod 20 extends upwardly through vertically aligned openings provided in the top of the cylinder and casing and fixedly mounts at the upper 2,789,283 Patented Apr. 16, 1957 "ice end thereof the transverse block 25 which, it will be noted, comes to a point 26 at one side.

A cam plate 27 is fixedly mounted on the top of the casing 14 at one end thereof outwardly of the piston rod 20 and includes the upwardly and outwardly inclined cam surface 28 which extends outwardly beyond the point 26 for a purpose which will hereinafter become clear.

A hinge plate (elongated) 29 is hingeably mounted at the other end of the top of the casing 14 by means of the hinge plate 30 and pintle 31, the hinge plate 30 being secured to the top of the casing by the screws 32 (Fig. 2).

A lift rod 33 is fixedly connected at one end to the top of the elongated hinge plate 29 near the pintle and terminates at its other end in the flattened portion 35 which is adapted to engage the lower edge of the block 25 below the point 26 and which extends beyond the cam plate 27. It will be noted that the free end of the hinge plate 29 terminates short of the piston rod 20. It will also be apparent that as the hinge plate 29 is raised in a manner which will hereinafter become clear, the flattened end 35 of the lift rod 33 will raise the block 25 and therewith the piston 20 until the flattened end 35 engages the cam surface 28, and upon further upward movement the cam surface 28 will force the lift rod laterally to release the block 25 and piston rod 20.

In order to effect the raising movement of the hinge plate 29 for a purpose which will hereinafter become clear, a solenoid indicated generally at 36 (Fig. 3) is mounted on the hollow pedestal 37 located on the bottom wall of the casing 14 inwardly of the cylinder 17, the solenoid 36 including the vertically movable core 38 which is adapted to move downwardly through the hollow pedestal 37 when the solenoid is not energized. Conductors 39 and 40 are connected to the ends of the wire forming the electro-magnetic field of the solenoid. A plate 41 adapted for vertical movement within the hollow pedestal 37 is fixedly connected to the lower end of the core 38 and in turn fixedly mounts at its periphery the push rod 42 which extends upwardly through vertically aligned openings in the solenoid 36 and the top wall of the casing 14 where it is pivotally connected to the undersurface of the hinge plate 29 by means of the pin 43 whereby to raise the hinge plate when the solenoid is energized.

A pair of vertically spaced, parallel contact strips 44 and 45 are mounted on the top of the casing 14 at the other side thereof by means of the insulator blocks 46 and 47, the free end of the contact strip 44 extending beyond the free end of the contract strip 45 and passing under the block 25. Contacts 48 and 49 are carried on the adjacent surfaces of the strips 44 and 45 respectively and are normally spaced apart, as shown in Fig. 3, when the block 25 is in a raised position. The conductor strips 44 and 45 are connected to the terminal wires or conductors 50 and 51. v

As shown in Fig. 5, the insulated conductor 50 is connected to one terminal of a buzzer or other suitable sounding means of electrical nature suitably mounted on the dashboard of the vehicle while the insulated conductor 51 is connected to one terminal of the on and off hand operated switch indicated generally at 53 and including the manually operable knob 54, the switch 53 being preferably mounted on the dashboard 11. The other terminal of the switch 53 is connected to a source of voltage, for example the car battery, at one terminal thereof by means of the conductor while the other terminal of the buzzer or other electrical sounding means 52 is connected to the other terminal of the source of voltage by means of the insulated conductor 56. Thus, upon closing the switch 53 by means of knob 54, the voltage will be applied to the buzzer or other sounding period.

switch ineludes'a pair of spaced parallel resilient conductorfstrips S7and 58, the ends of which are spaced apart by the insulator end portions 59 and 60 (Fig. l).

The conductor 40 from the solenoid '36 is connected to the conductor strip 57 while the conductor strip 58 is Connected by means of the conductor 61 to the conductor 51 (Fig. to connect the solenoid in parallel with the buzzer'to the source of voltage with the normally open switch 57, 58 being connected in series combination with the solenoid and to prevent its operation. A

finger receiving loop 62 is fixedly carried by the conductor strip 53 and is adapted to receive the finger and more particularly the second-finger therethrough when gripping the steering wheel 13 whereby to support the hand switch in a convenient location while driving. Upon pressing the strips 57 and 58 together into contact with each other, the circuitof the solenoid will be closed to raise the core 38 thereof and thereby the block 25 and to prevent the contacts 48 and 49 from being closed under the weight 23. When not in use, the hand switch may be supported on the rod 63) suitably mounted and extending outwardly from the dashboard 11 as shown in dotted outline in Fig. l. The hand switch may also take the form of a cigarette holder type of implement with the strips 57 and 58 retained between the teeth and adapted to be closed thereby, as will be obvious. The

, metal'parts 57 and 58 of the hand switch in both cases are insulated with rubber covering, not shown.

In operation, when the driver thinks he may fall asleep while driving, the hand switch is held as shown in Fig.

. 1, puttingthe second finger of the left hand through the 23 will lower the block 25 and close the terminals 48 and 49, thus causing the buzzer 52 to sound. If the driver starts to fall asleep, he will fail to squeeze the steering wheel every one or two seconds, and the buzzer 52 will sound to instantly awaken him and to prevent him from falling asleep. When the switch 53 is turned on, the contacts '48 and 49 will normally be closed under the action of the weight 23 to sound the buzzer. However, when the steering wheel is squeezed, the metal strips 57 and 58 will contact each other, completing the circuit of the solenoid-36 and causing the core 33 thereof to raise the hinge plate 29 by means of the push rod 47. and therewith the lift rod 35. This causes the block 25 to be raised and therealong the weight 23 and piston plate. 18, this movement releasing the uppermost conductor strip and opening the contacts 48 and 49 under their own resiliency. The opening 19 in the piston plate causes the oil or other, retarding fiuid 24- to move upwardly therethrough at a controlled rate and causing the piston plate 18 to move downwardly at a retarded rate, which eliminates the necessity for holding the conductor strips 57 and 58 in-constant contact in order to prevent the contacts 48 and 49 from closing. When the piston 18 is moved upto its'upper positions, the cam plate 27 and more particularly the cam surface 28 thereof will move the lift rod 35 outwardly and out of engagement with the block 25, permitting the piston plate 18 to move down under the weight 23 at a controlled rate and ultimately resulting in the closing of the contacts 48 and 49 if the solenoid is not again energized within a predetermined It takes approximately three seconds for the piston plate 18 tomove downwardly from the uppermost to the lowermost positions. 58 are squeezed together and released every one or two seconds, the block will be moved upwardly before it has a chance to close the contacts 4% and 49 and to sound the buzzer. If the driver starts to fall asleep, he will fail to squeeze the strips 57 and 58 together every one or two seconds, and the block 25 will move all the Way down to close the contacts as and 49 and thus sound the buzzer, which latter will prevent the driver from falling sleep.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What 1 claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A safety device to prevent automobile drivers from falling asleep comprising a hollow casing, means for mounting saidcasing within the vehicle, a cylinder within said casing at one end thereof, a piston plate movable vertically within said cylinder and having an opening therethrough, retarding fluid within said cylinder, a piston rod connected to said piston plate at its lower end and extending upwardly through vertically aligned openings in the top of said cylinder and casing, weight means connected to said piston rod Within said cylinder whereby to normally urge said piston plate to the lower position at a controlled rate, a transversely extending member secured to the upper end of said piston rod, an elongated plate pivotally mounted at one side of said casing at the other end thereof, the free end of said plate terminating short of said piston rod, a lift rod fixedly carried by said elongated plate, the end of said lift rod extending beyond the end of said elongated plate and passing under the lower edge of said transverse member whereby to lift said piston rod upon upward movement of said elongated plate, solenoid means within the central portion of said casing and including a movable core having a laterally enlarged plate mounted on the lower end thereof, a vertical push rod mounted on said plate at the lower end thereof and extending upwardly through vertically aligned openings in said solenoid means and casing, the upper end of said push rod being pivotally connected to said elongated plate, said solenoid means being connected in a circuit including a source of voltage and a switch, whereby to move said piston rod upwardly upon energization of said solenoid means, under the action of said lift rod, cam plate means at the end of said casing top wall adapted to move said lift rod out of engagement with said transverse member after a predetermined rise and to permit the free fall of said piston rod and piston plate, a pair of vertically spaced, parallel conductor strips mounted on the top of said casing at the other side thereof, the uppermost of saidconductor strips extending beyond the lowermost and under said transverse member, vertically aligned contacts on adjacent faces of said conductor strips adapted to be brought into contact with each other upon downward movement of said transverse member and into engagement with the free end of the uppermost of said conductor strips, electrical sounding means connected in the circuit in series with said contacts and in parallel with said solenoid means, and hand operated, normally open switch means connected in series combination with said solenoid means adapted to be squeezed at predetermined time intervals by the motorist to energize said solenoid means and to prevent said contacts from closing whereby upon failureto squeeze said hand switch means the electrical sounding means will awaken the motorist andprevent him from falling asleep.

2. A safety device according to claim 1, said normally open hand switch means comprising a pair of elongated parallel, laterally spaced conductor strips, insulator spacer means at opposite ends of said strips therebetween, conductor means connecting adjacent ends of said strips at If the metal strips 57 and one end thereof in the circuit of said solenoid means, and a finger receiving loop connected to one of said conductor strips adapted to receive the finger therethrough and to hold the hand switch on the steering wheel. while driving and upon squeezing said finger receiving loop to bring said conductor strips into contact with each other and to energize said solenoid means.

3. A safety device according to claim 2, said cam plate means comprising upwardly extending cam plate mounted on the end of said casing on the top thereof and lying in a laterally extending plane, said cam plate at the upper end thereof having an upwardly and outwardly extending cam surface adapted to engage said push rod upon upward movement of the latter and to move the same outwardly out of engagement with the undersurface of said transverse member, said transverse member at the end thereof adjacent said lift rod having a downwardly and outwardly inclined edge forming with the lower edge of said transverse member a point and receiving the lift rod therebelow.

4. A safety device according to claim 3, said casing being mounted on the bottom wall of the dashboard therewithin, said solenoid means comprising a hollow pedestal mounted within the casing, a solenoid mounted on the top of said casing hollow pedestal, said hollow pedestal having an opening receiving the core downwardly therewithin and said plate to permit vertical movement of said core and plate.

5. A safety device according to claim 1, said hand switch means comprising a pair of laterally spaced conductor strips, insulator means separating said strips at opposite ends thereof, said conductor strips at adjacent ends at one end thereof being connected in the circuit of said solenoid means, said strips being insulated and adapted to be held between the teeth in the manner of a cigarette holder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Murray Nov. 20, 1951 Mathis Jan. 13, 1953 Campisi Dec. 6, 1955 

